A Chloe Gover brace helped Aberdeen Women to a 4-2 win over Partick Thistle in an eventful game at Cormack Park.
Gover scored two well-taken goals in the first half either side of a Bayley Hutchison finish to put the home side three clear, but Rachel Donaldson and Linzi Taylor dragged the away side back into the game.
Thistle then had Taylor Hamill controversially sent off before substitute Bailey Collins made the points safe.
The Dons, who made it three wins out of three against the Jags this season, are next in action on Sunday as they travel to face fourth-placed Hibernian.
Off to a good start
Aberdeen, playing their final home game of the season, started brightly and threatened the Thistle goal twice in the first six minutes.
Francesca Ogilvie carved an opening for herself but shot straight at visiting stopper Lauren McGregor, before the winger teed up Loren Campbell to shoot from the right side of the box. Her effort clipped the top of the bar before going over.
Campbell hit the outside of the post shortly after and Rosie Slater nearly turned a Bayley Hutchison cross into her own net, as Aberdeen kept up their swathe of attacks.
That pressure finally paid off in the 19th minute with Gover finishing beyond McGregor to open the scoring.
Thistle were only really threatening from long-range, with Cara McBrearty and Slater sending shots wide of target, before quick-thinking from the Dons extended their lead.
Eilidh Shore took a sharp free-kick over the Thistle defence to play in Hutchison, who kept her cool one-on-one with McGregor to roll in the second.
Aberdeen goalkeeper Aaliyah-Jay Meach was finally called into action in the 33rd minute to repel Chloe Docherty’s attempt but Gover was soon a thorn in the Partick side again.
A clever flick-on found Hutchison and she squared first-time to Gover, who rapped a left-footed strike high into the net.
Aberdeen kept advantage intact
Partick, who were without manager Brian Graham due to his playing commitments with the men’s team in the Championship play-off at Inverness, got themselves back in the game before the interval as McBrearty cut back for Donaldson to tap in.
The deficit was reduced further shortly before half-time as Taylor sent a free-kick over the wall and Meach could only help it on its way into the net.
Donaldson almost grabbed an unlikely leveller four minutes into the second half, with a 20-yard effort that came back off the inside of the post and was cleared by Aberdeen.
But their momentum was checked before the hour, with Taylor Hamill sent off for an apparent elbow on Ogilvie, with the decision flagged up by the linesman and contested heavily by the Thistle players.
The onus was now on Aberdeen to kill the game, with Eilidh Shore trying her luck from distance and Eva Thomson forcing McGregor into a smart save.
However there was little she could do for the Dons fourth goal as substitute Collins rounded off a fine team move to put her side back in control.
Thistle to their credit continued to rally despite being a player down but Aberdeen were able to keep their two-goal advantage intact.
ABERDEEN (4-4-1-1) – Meach; Campbell, Forrest (Doig 78), Paterson (Innes 46), Broadrick, Ogilvie (Fraser 86), Bruce (Collins 66), Shore, Gover, Thomson (Gordon 86), Hutchison. Subs not used – Brown, Stewart.
PARTICK THISTLE (4-1-4-1) – McGregor; Slater, Falconer, McCulloch, Murphy (MacDonald 81), Bulloch, Donaldson, Taylor (Dalziel 86), Docherty, Hamill, McBrearty. Subs not used – Grant, Brown.
